


Bitter and Cold

by Miner7365



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
Genre: Canon: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Gen, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-06-26 15:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15666342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miner7365/pseuds/Miner7365
Summary: A story about a duo that, when united, were able to stand strong in the face of catastrophe. But now, isolated from each other between worlds, and finding their pasts coming after them at the worse possible time, they can only question whether they can even save themselves, much less everyone. A Gates to Infinity Post-Game story, featuring dark and semi-disturbing themes.





	1. Bitter

_?'s POV_

After all this time, we… we had defeated it.

It was finally gone.

The being previously in front of me, formerly know as the Bittercold, was now only scattered spikes of ice; a small remnant of the horrifying monster it once was. It was surreal that, after all this time, it was finally gone. Staring at where the thing once stood, as the dust left from the battle started to clear up, I tried to move forwards before finding some resistance; more then likely energy left over from the Bittercold. I guess I needed to wait.

Pulling my scarf harder around my neck, in a attempt to warm myself up, I looked back at my partner. He was staring down at the ground, if I had to guess angry that he had to stand back and watch me have to fight it alone, rather then be by my side like he had been this entire journey. I figured he would be fine for now though. Taking one last second to look back at him, I started to look around again to make sure nothing was left of that thing. Still slightly shivering at the surroundings, the fact that I was a dragon type not helping, I started to walk forward, not wanting to take a chance there was any part of it left in its wake.

If there was any part of it left, it had to be destroyed. I could not take any chances.

As I walked forward towards the center of the room, with me fervently searching for any trace of that thing, I felt something odd come underneath my foot. Slightly sighing, I looked down and found that I was greeted with a- huh?

When I looked down, I was greeted with a image of a Zoroark staring back at me, a polaroid image. It stared at me, tauntingly, as I picked it up and tried to make some sense out of it from the image itself. It was a giant enigma to put it lightly, considering how I had not seen a single camera in this world as of yet anyways. So from where had it come from?

Just as I was about to examine the image further, I looked back up and saw Spark slightly whimpering; reminding me of what truly mattered right now. After I gently put the image away in the bag, I started walking towards him. It was rare to see him in a state like this, but if he was going through what I thought he was going through, then I needed to help him.

So, I did the one thing I knew I could do to help; I hugged him and softly said something I think he needed to hear.

"It's gone. We're all free now. We're all going to be fine. We've won."

"Everyone is free now."

Seeing him having slightly calmed down after I said that, I took his hand and we started to walk down this mountain.

We, at least for a little while, walked together.

_Spark's? POV_

Riley and I had been walking down the path that had lead us up to that monster for a while now, as I found myself mulling over that last sentence he told me.

The one where he told me. "Everyone is free now."

I already knew he said it for the sole purpose of trying to get me back up, but I could say for sure it did not work. If anything, the statement only reminded me of the state I was in before I met him in those woods. Back when I was that thing.

Hollowly chuckling, and in a attempt to get my mind out of the gutter, I looked back up at him. He was so cheery, and probably thought I was too, knowing him and his optimism. I had always had my head in the ditch since my childhood, and for as much as I tried to forget, I never truly could. In being honest, I had never mentioned this to him for the sole reason that I did not want him to think of me as not being normal. All I wanted from him is to be a friend.

A friend, and for him to not think of me as someone who was honestly scared of what would happen if he was not there anymore. Only just a regular old friend.

That was all I wanted.

Almost chuckling at the sheer irony of the situation, and the fact that I was down when I should be up for once in my life, I looked back towards him. He kept walking, almost marching forward in front of me, a certain proudness in each step, probably pride as to the fact that that thing was finally gone. Despite all the stuff I had done in the cavern, he still thought of me as normal, and did not catch on to my true self.

And I hoped that it was going to stay that way, at least, until I was finally ready to tell him.

If hoping actually meant anything, other then putting blind faith into something.

Sighing at the comment I had just made, I followed him as we continued to walk.

I was just being a pessimist as usual, everything would be fine.

It had to be.

_Riley's POV_

When we got back to town, we were praised as heroes.

Everybody in Post Town had gotten a giant celebration ready at Swanna's inn, with everyone having something to say or something to thank us for. It was one of the most uplifting things I had seen in the while.

Although, in saying that, I swore I saw the slightest tinge of melancholy in Spark's face as I walked past by him during my talk with Emolga. It seemed like I was the only one who noticed it, but it was there. It was there, and it seemed so odd for him. He was usually the kind of guy to have his head constantly up, so why was he down right now? What could have been so bad?

For a little while, I tried to disregard it, just talking to everyone and trying to have fun on this celebratory day. But every time I almost got involved in something, my mind would jump back to the topic of Spark. I could not get my mind off of him no matter what.

I knew I needed to get away for a little while. All I needed to do was go have a few moments to think.

Taking one last moment to take in the lively atmosphere the entire area gave off, I walked towards the door, leaving the lively atmosphere within the inn for the desolate place that was post town at night. I could still hear the lively noises of chatter as I walked away into the now empty square, as I looked up at the stars the entire time. They almost seemed to be beckoning me.

And at the same time, also reminding me of all the nights I spent stargazing outside of Driftveil, wondering what was up there. In a way, it almost seemed as if they were calling to me, telling me to go back. Slightly chuckling at the thought, I continued looking up at the stars. Why was I even thinking about that, anyways, it was not like that was even a option any- wait.

Was it an option?

I mean, the Bittercold was gone, and Hydreigon had shown that he was capable of bringing humans to this world. Surely the opposite was true?

Perhaps. I mean, in being honest, going back was a question I had not even thought about in so, so long. I had become so accustomed to being here I never really considered it that much in recent times. Was it possible for me to go back?

Would I have to chose between being here, or being with Alexia back home? Because I am not sure I would even be able to make that choice. In being honest, did I even want to have that choice?

I sighed after I reached the overhang on top of the town, the best place for looking out at the stars. Sitting down, I looked out towards the surrounding landscape; in all their serenity and beauty, with the stars twinkling over the overarching trees on the hills. If anything, I knew I was overreacting to all of this. Even if it was a option, I could worry about that tomorrow or the next day or in a week. Today, I should just be happy that the Bittercold was finally gone.

Today, nothing was going to go wr-

Suddenly, before I had a moment to finish that though, Hydreigon flew into view from below the cliff, slightly startling me. I wondered what in Arceus' name he needed me for, but I simply stayed silent as he began to talk.

"Oh, uh… hey, nice seeing you Riley. How have you been?"

Scratching my head, confused as to his presence, I asked, "Hydreigon, is there a issue or…"

I heard him sigh. "No, no, it's... it's nothing. I just want to formally thank you again for everything you did. Really, I extremely appreciate it."

My hand started scratching the back of my head. "Well, that's sweet and all, but why the privacy? Is… is there something else you need to tell me?"

The more we talked, the more and more I was put off by this whole situation in general. Why had he come all the way out here to tell me how thankful he was if he could have just done that when I got back to the party? Was he hiding something? Because if he was, I was not sure whether I was going to like what it turned out to be.

I was not sure I was going to like it at all.

After a few prolonged moments of silence, with only the cutting noises of wind and ruffling of leaves making a dent in it, he said, "Well uh… you see… there is this… this thing involving… involving you that I… I need to tell you…"

Now slightly sniffling, he continued. "Riley, your… your time in this world is almost up. As much as I am thankful for what you have done, for the sake of this world you… you need to go back."

"I have to send you back. I have to. I'm… I'm so sorry…"

It was then, at that exact moment, that everything felt like it came crashing down.

After all this time, I had to go back. It would be a lie to say I had not considered whether I wanted to go back, but that was me thinking of it theoretically weeks or even months down the line. Here, I was being told I had to go back almost immediately after I defeated that monster. If anything, it felt like it had to be a giant joke.

And a bad joke at that. The kind of joke you would play on someone you hated. The one that was not funny to anybody but the person making it. It felt like one, big, giant joke.

Finding myself unable to muster up anything to say, I simply walked over to a tree and laid against its side, looking up at the stars. Hydreigon followed me over, much to my chagrin, but I was not about to tell the literal voice of the world off.

Not even bothering to look towards his way as I leaned against a tree, I asked him,"When? When do you have to send me back?"

"T- tomorrow morning, unfortunately..."

Sighing, I closed my eyes, before kicking one of the nearby rocks off the hill into the stark abyss beyond. Hydreigon continued looking down at me, probably hating himself for having to say that whole thing knowing him. But if there was one thing I needed to do, it was get away, like I originally left the party to do. Just get away.

All I needed to do was get away right now.

Getting off the side of the tree, I started walking before Hydreigon flew in front of me. "Oh uh… there is… is something else I need to uh… tell you."

Sighing, I asked, "What else could there possibly be?"

Hydreigon looked to the side, shaking his head before finally saying, "There… there is also… also the fact that… that they'll forget… they'll forget all about you after… after tomorrow."

"After tomorrow, you… will basically have never existed in the eyes of everyone around here," I backed up slightly, glancing around, before he continued. "I'm sorry, but it's the only way for me to stop any damage you coming here might have caused to the world. I have to do this."

This was not real, and I knew it. This could not possibly be happening. Everyone here was going to forget that I ever existed. All of this might as well not have ever happened to me, considering only I and Hydreigon would be the ones that remembered. In the eyes of most, these six months might as well not even have happened.

And, it was at that fact, that I found myself breaking down on that hill that night. This could not be happening. It just could not. In their eyes, I would have never existed. He was just going to erase all those friendships, and make it like they never existed. He was going to take away the one time I felt like a hero from everyone else. He was just going to take that away.

"Just… meet me here tomorrow, okay," I heard Hydreigon say, me hearing slight sobbing come from him; pity I did not want from him. "I… I know this probably is not how you… you thought your journey would end, but… it is how it is…"

Not wanting to hear anything else, I got up and walked out of the area, hoping Hydreigon would get the hint not to follow. Thankfully, he did. Knowing I could not go back to the party in the state I was in after that, I continued walking back through the town, hearing a slight ruffling in the bushes I did not bother to investigate, taking it as some feral fletchling or something that got lost or something. In all honesty, I just did not care.

The walk evolved into a run towards my house, with me only wanting to get away.

Because everything hurt so, so badly.

_Spark's POV_

No…

No… no…

This… this could not be happening…

I found myself dashing away from the bush, the bush I had just spied on the whole scene from. I did not know if he noticed the noise from the ruffling of the leaves, but I did not care at the time. Instead, I was too busy caring about what was happening in front of me.

This… this could not be happening…

No… please be a dream… please wake up…

Please…

Memories of the time I told him he should stay here forever came back up in my head, memories that now seemingly haunted me. I told him that, I told him in some hope that it would make him want to stay here, if he ever got a choice and figured out what happened to him.

But of course, it was never a choice, was it? Stories involving me have never had happy endings before, so why would this one be any different? Was I being oblivious?

And then there was the fact… the fact that I was going to forget…

That I would forget all about him… forget all about everything…

Who was I going to be when I forgot… would I still be Spark or… or would I be… would I be him again?

Everything felt like pure agony as I found myself running through the woods, the trees towering over me like judges. It was so dark that they looked only looked like towering pillars moving all around me, judging me. They all judged me, judged me for hoping, judged me for believing everything could be good for once, judged me for trying to be someone I was not.

I was so scared of losing Spark, yet it already felt like he was slipping. Slipping, slipping, and slipping.

Eventually, the towering judges of the forest gave me a final verdict of their own, when I tripped over a root leading to me ramming my head into a fallen log, taking all the wind I still had in me out in one fell swoop. Darkness consumed my vision as I fell unconscious, not waking up until the light of day shined over all.

And when I woke up, hours later, I remembered how it felt to be alone again. It hurt.

_Riley's POV_

When my eyes started to twitch open as the light of morning sprawled across my face, I knew my time in this world was starting to come to a close. Sighing, regretting my actions fueled by anger last night, especially not going to the party again, I continued laying down.

Eventually, after delaying the inevitable as long as I could, I fully opened my eyes and took one last glance across the room, taking in everything one last time. I found it odd that Spark had not shown back up last night, but I disregarded it, knowing I would not have time to investigate before Hydreigon would send me back.

Either way, I would be spending these final few moments in this world alone. Alone, without him.

Sighing, and seeing no point in procrastinating, I got up and walked towards my bag. I shuffled through it, trying to see if there was anything of that much importance I might want to take with me, if I even could. Something to remember these times I spent here with all of them, together. A kind of memento, almost.

As I kept on shuffling through the bag, I started to lose hope that I would find anything that might work as one. I was about to fully give up when I felt a very familiar texture come in contact with my hand.

It was that image, that image of that Zoroark I found where the Bittercold once was. The thing that defied all my expectation as to what I would find in there.

I could have just left it, and let all of them back at the Paradise investigate it by themselves. But something about it kept bring back this weird sense of remembrance almost, it was odd. And I knew, if I was going to take anything, it had to be this.

Slowly pulling the image out, I put it on the ground to free up my hands before closing the bag for the final time I ever would. I had no need to bring it with me, considering almost all the stuff in there would not be useful to me, so I left it there for Spark to find and use.

Where was he, anyways? It was not like him for him to do stuff like this. Sure, he seemed down, but I had never seen him so down that he did not come back to the house. Did I hurt him by saying something?

I almost considered ditching Hydreigon in a attempt to go find Spark, but I knew that would be a horrid call. Hydreigon knew better then me, after all, and had helped saved my life from Munna who had tried to hold Spark ransom in order to get me to come out. I had to respect his wishes, no matter how much they conflicted mine. I could not just betray him.

And besides, he was going to be fine and I knew it, I was just overreacting as usual. Only over-questioning things that should not be questioned, connecting dots that were never meant to be connected in the first place. If anything, I just needed to get going already and stop procrastinating.

So, softly sighing, I took one last look around the entire place, before walking out of there forever, only to be greeted with the beautiful hues of the morning sky the greet me. On any other day, I would have found it beautiful.

Had it not been the last time I knew I was going to see it. If that was not true.

Trying to get the topic out of my head, I started the long walk to post town, constantly thinking about everything I had done here over the last several months. I thought about the time we got Conkeldurr to build that house, and of all the times me and Spark walked along this path. I thought about all the times I had here, all the good and the bad times. I thought about it all.

It was sad, really, how I would soon be the only one with these memories. If what Hydreigon said was true, then I really was going to be the only one that remembered all of this. This entire journey would stay situated inside my head, only my own, personal little adventure that in the eyes of everyone I knew here, never happened. Not even Spark.

I never really had a choice, did I?

Sighing, and trying to get the thoughts out of my head, I found myself at the gates of post town, with everyone still asleep in their houses. I quietly took in the silence, taking one last glance at the entire area. To think, less then twelve hours prior, I was walking here to simply de-stress. All that memories of things that I did here flashed before me, almost hauntingly.

In a lot of ways, I wished I stayed at that party. I really wish I did.

All I could do was hollowly chuckle in my own self-pity as I walked towards the hill, before climbing the steps. Every step was harder then the last, with this being the end of all the experiences I was ever going to have here. This was it.

It was time for this journey of mine to finally reach its conclusion.

After what felt like way too little time, I found myself up in the overhang, with Hydreigon being there as well. We both looked at each other for a while, silently exchanging glances. We both knew it why the other was there.

Eventually, he broke the silence, sighing and saying, "So… are you ready? If you aren't, I'm fine with you taking a few more seconds t-"

I interrupted him. "No, let's just get this over with. There is no point in waiting anyways, is there? I just want to get it over with."

Hydreigon somberly looked at the ground; whether it be in disappointment with himself for having to do this, or the fact that I was being torn away from everything I had known for the last several months, without even a proper chance to say goodbye. Either way, a ball of light slowly enveloped me, before it started to rise bringing me higher and higher in the sky. Post town laid before me, everything I knew becoming smaller and smaller every second.

Here it was, all in front of me. The entire town.

All the memories of this place. The time I had told everyone I was truly human. All the times I went to Kecleon to get supplies for the mission. Everything.

Everything I had done in the last several months, everywhere I considered home for a long time stretched out in front of me; seemingly forever. I swore I could feel a tear slowly fall from my face as it went further and further from view.

Eventually, I heard Hydreigon ask me, "Is there… is there any… any last place you would like to visit before you leave? Anywhere?"

I took a second to wipe the tear that was rolling down my face off, before saying "Could… could I see the Paradise one last time?"

A slight grin formed on his face. "Of course."

The orb started moving towards the Paradise, gracefully. The landscapes passed by as it slowly approached the main square, with everyone starting to get up and converge at the square, everyone but… but Spark. They all seemingly stared up at the orb I was in, probably trying to find me due to my disappearance. To think this was going to be the last time we saw each other, all the way up in the sky. I could not even hear what any of them were saying from all the way up here.

Suddenly, Hydreigon started speaking again, "There, there is something I have to give you. A gift, if you will."

He slowly approached the orb holding something before putting down a frism, of all things. I looked back up at him before I got it to start playing. When It started to play, I very quickly realized that it was a goodbye message, with Emolga, Dunsparce, Herdier, and even Quagsire chiming in. Everyone was there.

Everyone but Spark.

For a moment, I felt the slightest tinge of anger toward Hydreigon, for having told them when I wanted to just disappear and not make them suffer. But, considering how well all of them seemed to take it, I could not stay mad at him.

When It finally finished playing, I turned my head to Hydreigon and said, "Thank you, th-"

That was when I noticed something was wrong. That something was very, very wrong. He was staring down at the ground, his eyes solely focused on that one thing. Wondering what could be so bad, I looked down to where he was staring.

When I looked down, all I saw was Spark staring up at me, with everyone else staring at him as if he had done something extremely horrible. That was when I realized he was crying in the middle of the square.

It was then when I realized just how badly I had ignored him in the last few hours I was in this world.

Did I… did I really just pretend everything was fine? Did my own perception of him blind me for the longest time? Did I… really let that happen?

I... I should have known… I should have.

I should have…

And as the orb rose higher and higher into the sky that fateful morning, I found myself slamming my fist against the sides of it, sobbing and hating myself. All I cared about was how much I hated myself at that very moment, for not talking to him at the party but instead trying to get away. I should have helped him.

I should not have left him alone, and pretended everything was fine. Now, he was alone.

And for that, I hated myself. I hated myself all the rest of the way up the sky. I hated myself.

When I reached the edge of the sky, I said one last thing. One last thing on that fateful day.

"Spark, please… forgive me."

"Please…"

And at that moment, everything in my sight was consumed by a bright, white light.

_Spark's POV_

Everyone had long since stopped staring at the orb, instead staring at me for what I had just done. I had just ruined whatever send off they had prepared for him, and made him feel horrible on his way out of here. But I did not apologize.

Instead, I found myself running. Running away from everyone. Running away from it all. I found myself running, holding back tears.

Running, running, and running. Running and feeling horrible.

Running and wondering why all of this had to happen.

Eventually, I found myself back at my house, where I instantly collapsed into a sobbing session. He was gone, forever, and I had made him feel horrible during those final moments. I made him feel horrible, like me.

And so there I laid, sobbing. Sobbing, sobbing, and sobbing. Hating myself, and hating what I had done the entire time.

Because it hurt. It hurt so, so much.

But, despite this, despite all the anger, I swore to myself one thing. One, single, resolute thing.

“That I will never forget you…”

**Miner7365 Presents**

**Bitter and Cold**

* * *

****

_…_

_it… hurts…_

_it hurts… so, so much…_


	2. Home Invasion

_Riley’s POV_

Eventually, I opened my eyes to white, but not the same white I had last seen. Instead, it was the plaster white of my roof

It was this sad excuse of the roof that was the first sight I had upon waking up. Taking a second to come to terms with the fact that all of that had actually happened, and I really was back here now. I quickly looked at myself and saw nothing looked different from when I last fell asleep. For all I knew, I had just woken up from the same sleep I fell into that summer night what felt like months back at this point.

Sighing, and seeing no point in forcing myself to endure the recent memories the white roof brought back, I tried to get up. It took a second for me to readjust; not being accustomed to walking without the short, stumpy legs that Axew tended to have after all that time in the other world, but eventually it came back to me. Barely being able to see anything around me, I briskly walked over to the light switch before flipping it on, revealing the formerly dimly lit room in all its true, horrid glory.

Seeing it after being used to the semi-clean wooden shack back at Paradise, it felt like hitting a brick wall. Everything looked way dustier then I last remembered; a fine layer of it visibly covering my monitor, along with several other things. If anything, it looked way messier then I ever remembered it being.

Had it been this bad when I last left? Had I just forgotten about it that much?

Closing my eyes and shaking my head in disgust, I turned around and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind me and promising myself to handle it later. I started walking down the hallway, wondering how I was going to be able to handle today.

I knew I could try to tell them, but I was not sure I really wanted to come off as crazy in their eyes, especially in Linden’s. I mean, it was always an option, but did I want to do it? For all I knew, maybe it was only some weird dream, may-

Stepping forward, I found myself in my living room, with the lights off like everywhere else in the house. But that did not stop the light of day substituting in, with it shimmering through the binders in bands of light, bathing the entire room in blue. Just like the old house and its windows, a subtlety dreams could never pick up on in mass.

Dreams could not emulate actions and things as real as they felt back there, or even last as long as that experience was. I still remembered how much it hurt after Kyurem almost crushed me all the way back when Spark and I were running from Munna, or how many times something seemed way too detailed to be from a dream. I could not just forget, and act like it was all one big fantasy, for the sake of ‘convenience.’

No, I could not. I had to hold onto it, if they could not. If what Hydreigon said was true, I had to. for all of them.

For everyone.

Taking one last moment to reminisce, I walked over to the light switch and flipped it on, drowning out the hues of blue previously on the floor with a clinical yellow. Sitting down on the couch for a second, in an attempt to unwind, I looked at the clock and saw that it was…

Two thirty-six in the morning?

That… that could not possibly be right. Taking a closer look at the clock, I noticed something I should have earlier; the hands had stopped ticking forward. The battery must have died over-night, or something of that nature. Then again, I swore I replaced them soon before I left for the other world… oh well, must had just gotten ripped off and bought faulty batteries. Figures, knowing this city and its tendency to grab onto as much money as it can.

Whatever, the time did not matter that much, anyways; considering that anything I had planned to do today was definitely not going to happen after what I had been though. Instead, I would go do something I wished I had prioritized the second I got back here; instead of mumbling around and being angry at myself in my household, like I had been.

I needed to go see Alexia, after all this time. She was no further away then down a few streets, and I knew I could be there within an hour at most. There was no reason to stop and wait, other then possibly trying to think up an excuse as to why I was visiting her now of all times, but I was not going to bother with that.

I knew I would think of something on the way, I was not going to let that slow me down.

It was with that thought, that I quickly grabbed my personal bag and got ready to leave. I knew I could go check in on Drilbur, if I could find his ball laying around somewhere, but I would put that off until later. He could wait.

Taking one last moment to look back at the living room, I walked towards the door, opening it and then finding myself realizing just why the clock had stopped. Feeling the cool breeze of winter in Driftveil, and seeing pedestrians fully prepared for the situation, wearing jackets and gloves and all that, something clicked in my mind. Something that should have clicked a while back, yet I completely disregarded like the idiot I was.

It was with those thoughts as I stared out into the cold and dirtied city, as someone who had a summer’s rest and woke up in a winter morning, that I said two very fitting words for the situation.

“Oh fuck.”

Breathing heavily, and putting on my jacket as fast as I could; I rushed out the door, running as fast as possible towards her apartment building down the streets of Driftveil, constantly berating myself along the entire way.

Please, be there Alexia. I am sorry I disappeared for months on end, but please. Please, tell me nothing has happened to you. Please, be there.

Please, tell me nothing else has happened.

Please.

And it was with those thoughts, along with the sun shining down at me that Driftveil afternoon, that I ran.

_Spark’s POV_

__…_ _

__…_ _

Where…

Where… where am I?

My eyes slowly opened, as I found myself staring into a constant abyss of black all around me. Black that was everywhere. Pure, pitch black. Black that seeps. Black that grips. Black that holds.

Black that was everywhere except for one place, an Axew, standing a far away distance. An Axew that looked only like one other Axew I knew about, Riley.

What… what was he doing here? Why was he here?

As I found myself down on the ground, staring straight at him, all I could see was his slow approach. One foot in front of another, a march almost; a proud, stern march. A march that felt so very, very wrong to see him doing.

Something about his eyes. How they gleamed a fiery red, a red they never had been known for. A molten red, almost, one full of malevolence; one foreign to him.

Foreign, yet set in stone, ingrained. I had no idea what it was, yet as it approached, I could only find myself stumbling backwards and saying rapidly in a attempt to stead whatever it was off.

“I-I know you aren’t him! Y-you can’t fool me! S-stay away!”

It did not heed my warnings though, as the impostor continued walking towards me, his grin ever growing. Wider, fuller, curving upwards.

Bigger, bigger, and bigger. More horrifying, and more demented by the second. Something foreign imposed onto the face of someone I considered a friend. Something wrong.

But, as much as I thought the impostor would say something right as he approached, he did not, only staring with the widest grin I had ever seen on a Axew, wider than I thought was possible. He stared at me, and I stared back into the endless abyss of red that was his eyes, the endless abyss of molten, hot red.

He never stopped walking. I backed up, but I never seemed to go anywhere. All I could see was red. Red, red, red. Endless red. He kept on walking, and staring straight at me the entire time, his hand eventually starting to try to reach towards me. It came out, coming closer and closer near me, closer, closer, and closer. Closer, until it was much further away then I ever thought it would be, as the blare of thunder rang inside my ears and the grin on that Axew’s face instantly ceased for the last moment I could see it.

I found myself suddenly jolted awake from whatever fever dream of a nightmare that was, as I quickly darted my eyes around my house, checking for any signs of ghost types before it became very obvious it was my mind being my mind again.

Closing my eyes and shaking my head, I looked to the side of the room where his bed was. The memories of him were not gone yet, at least. That I could be thankful for. I figured I might as well try to enjoy the last few hours I would have them, since sleep was obviously not a viable option after… that.

Sighing, I started staring out the window, taking in the rain outside. It had been such a long day since this morning; me knowing throughout it all that once the sun rose over the sky again, that all my memories of him would be gone.

Gone, to the wind. Like everything I felt like I had at times. Why did this have to hap-

That was when I heard footsteps. Footsteps that made the wood underneath them moan and creak as if to their annoyance. Footsteps that could mean only one thing.

Someone was in the house. Someone from the Paradise I needed to greet. Time to try to say something comprehensible.

Taking a moment to mentally prepare, I turned around fully expecting Emolga or someone but instead seeing a Snivy. A Snivy, that seemed to give me a moment’s notice before going back to darting her eye’s around the room, as if I did not even exist.

So, I decided to make myself vocal. “Uh… excuse me? What are you doing here? This is my house, you know, and not some place in the middle of the woods where random pokémon come to squat. Care to explain why you came in here?” I said, trying to get her attention.

She slightly laughed. “Oh, it isn’t? Humph, well, it sure looks like one, but I’m not one to judge, am I?” I had to restrain a growl as she continued, her inferiority complex making me wish electric was super-effective against grass. “But either way, if this is just your house, and not Riley’s like I was told, then I don’t see any point in sticking around. Sorry for wasting your time, little rodent, but I’ll be on my way now. Toodles.”

Just as she started to walk out something dawned on me, something I needed to ask.

“Wait, Riley? What do you want with Riley?”

It was that, for better or for worse, that made her stop dead in her tracks.

“So, he has been around here, huh,” she said, turning around to face me from the front step, “care to tell me when, and where he is now, or is this going to be hard?”

“What, do you think I’m that dense? Its obvious you don’t want to know where he is for a good reason, so why would I ever tell-”

Suddenly, I found myself being flung from the center of the room, towards the wall near my side of the house, as everything went slightly blurry. It took a few moments for me to recompose myself, as I heard that Snivy mutter something to herself while looking at me, before shaking her head and running off into the storm outside.

It was then, in knowing that she knew way too much for an outsider, that I started to run after her. For all I knew, she was about to harm someone else in some futile attempt to find him, so I had to give chase, and figure out what was going on.

Getting up, I ran out the door as fast as I could towards what was now a small green figure a far way ahead up the road. Whatever she knew, I needed to as well, If not just for myself, then for everybody in Post Town.

It was with that in mind, that I gave chase. But the rain would never let up.

Not here, and not ever again.

_Riley’s POV_

The elevator door finally opened after what felt like hours of long, and way too jovial elevator music. I walked out and started breathing heavily, leaning against a wall, out of breath after running as far as I did. Sure, it was justified, considering the situation, but that did not make it any less tiring.

Either way, fatigued as I was, I was finally here. All I needed to do now was to go find my sister’s room, and try to figure out how to explain to her why I was gone for so long without sounding insane. Taking one last second to let my heart rest after all that running over here, I started checking the room numbers on each door one by one in order to find my sister’s one. It was the one with the room number four-hundred seventy one, if I had not gotten it mixed up with something else after all this time.

After a few minutes of searching, I thought I saw what looked to be the impression of the door number I was looking for in the dark, leaving me only to get out my flashlight and check. Quickly fiddling around to find my phone light, it came on, revealing the number as the one I was looking for, along with a solitary note strapped on by a piece of tape to the wall under it. I panned the light over it and started to read.

 

__To everyone it may concern:_ _

__

__I’m going away for a while, and won’t be back._ _

__I had some things I can not disclose come up,_ _

__and I needed to attend to them._ _

__If I don’t appear back for a while. Don’t worry._ _

__I won’t disappear like Riley did. I promise._ _

__

__-Alexia_ _

__

I stared at it, in disbelief. It was obvious why she had left, to go try to find me. She thought I ran away or something, and went to try to see where in the world I had gone… oh why did you do this Hydreigon? Hydreigon… why in Arceus’ name would you tear someone way from their life and think everything would be fine when you sent them back. I mean, I know your world was in danger, but… why?

All I could do was hold my face in my hands as I tried to wonder how I was going to deal with this. Ignoring the sounds of loud Rattata in the walls, I tried my first option, calling her. Quickly putting in her phone number, and sitting back against the wall as I hoped to hear a response back. It rang, and rang, and rang, before I realized exactly where it was ringing from, her room. The very same room I was waiting right in front of.

Well, at least I tried. Besides, at least it had the somewhat funny side-effect of making the Rattata stop in their tracks, any walking they were doing having gone completely silent. If anything, it was funny hearing them being scared at something as simple as a phone ring-

“There’s someone at the door! Get a move on! C’mon!"

Finding myself dumbstruck and staring at the door, wondering how in the world I had mistaken boots for Rattata footsteps, I quickly tried to think of a way in, but when nothing came up, I did the only other thing I could think of.

I started ramming into the side of the door, not about to let whoever these people were get away and not about to let my sister’s room become the site of a robbery. Whoever these people were, I needed to know.

No matter what, I needed to know what happened to my sister.

_Spark’s POV_

White strokes of blinding lightning brandished the night sky as I ran; water and the road being two constants in the madness that surrounded me. Thunder was seemingly touching down every few seconds, creating a cacophony of noise that seemingly went on forever, no matter how long it lasted. It was like the world was screaming at me to stop.

But, no matter what, I was not going to stop. She knew more than she should have, and I was going to get my answers, one way or another.

Constantly darting over rocks and fallen logs on the path, along with occasionally projectiles thrown at me from behind; I slowly managed to gain on her position on the road. For a Snivy, she managed to run extremely fast, but I knew I was still going to catch up eventually. She had no where to run, no matter how hard she tried.

I just had to keep on running, and gaining on her. That was all I needed to do. Whatever she knew, I needed to know why and how. Whatever she was doing here, I needed an explanation.

Finding the distance between us getting rapidly smaller and smaller the further I went, I tried to close the final gap, dashing rapidly forwards in a foolhardy attempt to try to stop her in her tracts.

Unfortunately for me, all I achieved was getting judged by the trees once more, as I tripped over one and found myself with a face full of dirt. Gritty, wet, slimy dirt.

Mud, as it would be called usually, but to me it was just stupid dirt.

Stupid dirt that spits in my face right as I was about to do something right for once. Dirt that only manages to be a giant insult to everything I stood for. Dirt that signified she, along with any trace of her, was long gone.

At least, until I noticed a silhouette of something in the storm. Shaking my head in a attempt to fling the dirt off, I quickly walked over to it, curious as to why in Arceus’ name it looked so o-

That was when I realized something. Something I could not see before through the rain and mud, but I could see very clearly now.

It was Snivy’s bag handle, laying there, as if it was waiting for someone to pick it up. She must had dropped it while running, during her attempt to take the moment of me falling down as a chance to get as far of a lead as she possibly could. But mistakes had happened with that, and here I was, holding the one thing she so desperately seemed to grip on to as she ran.

There had to be something in here, I just had to find it. All I needed to do was dig into it, and I would get my answers. But first and foremost, I needed to get it out of here.

Disregarding whatever small chance I possibly had of finding that Snivy up the path, I started dragging the bag behind me, leaving a giant trail in its wake. I felt so fatigued, yet I knew I could not stop now. Sighing, seeing the rain starting to finally let up after that awfully terrible storm, I continued to drag the bag behind me in pure solitude.

All I could do was hope I got back before the sun came up, and before whatever happened then, happened.

_Riley’s POV_

I kept on ramming into the door, hitting it harder and harder each time as the footsteps became less and less audible, before it finally swung open; all to greet me being an open window with a view of the city, and the scant scattered webs of apartment infesting Joltik near electrical outlets.

The impression was scant, but its message was still obvious. Whatever they had come here for was already long gone, and all I could do was try to figure out what had happened. Taking a moment to glance around, I locked the door behind me and walked towards her desk in the middle of the living room. On it, laid a simple yellow note ripped from a notepad of some kind that I very quickly picked up and read.

 

__Dear Riley_ _

__

__If you’re reading this, I’ve… well I’ve made a mistake._ _

__I went looking for you. I didn’t know where you are, but I intended_ _

__to find out. I had no plans to return to this house until I did. I left_ _

__something here for you, something I guess you could call a gift, to help you in_ _

__whatever situation you found yourself in. In any_ _

__case, I hope we can meet each-other again soon._ _

__

__Sincerely, your beloved (I hope) sister, Alexia._ _

__

__P.S. I left some money for you underneath the note in case you_ _

__need it. Also, I left your Drilbur in the care of our grandmother,_ _

__In-case your wondering where he went. You can find more information_ _

__there._ _

__

Closing my eyes and silently cursing as to the fact that I was right about the fact that she went to go find me, I put the note away in my bag. Quickly pocketing the money on the table, I took a glance around the room to see where in the world this object she was referring to was, at least, until I saw the dust.

The dust, or the apparent lack there of in a circle shape on the desk. Whatever she had wanted to give me was long gone, having being the target by those robbers that had just came in.

Groaning, I quickly looked around in the desk for a sheet of paper and a pencil, before finding them and starting to write a note for Alexia; the least I could do after seeing she had done all this. It read as follows:

 

__Dear Alexia_ _

__

__I don’t know where you are, or where you went, but I want_ _

__you to know I was here in case you ever return. I’ll be heading_ _

__up to Mistralton city in order to get my Drilbur and see if I_ _

__can find where you went. I’ll find you._ _

__

__Sincerely, your formerly missing brother, Riley._ _

 

I guessed I had a new goal now, to find my sister and whoever those people were. Taking one last glance back towards the setting sun outside the window, I quickly closed it before walking out of the room and gently shutting the door behind me, not wanting to remember what had happened.

Still, that did not stop the fact that those people had broke and entered into my sister’s room off my chest. Who were they? And what did they want?

Getting off the floor, taking the stairs this time for the sake of avoiding having to endure that music again, I reached the main lobby. Not even bothering to report what had happened, I quickly walked to the front door before pushing them open and walking out. Taking one moment upon exiting to look around for anybody who might have been in that room, I started walking back down the now desolate, and lonely road I had ran all the way here using. In being honest, even for Driftveil, it felt cold.

It felt so, so cold for Driftveil. Not just weather wise, although it was pretty bad in that regard, but the city in general. It was more reserved, more tucked away then I had ever seen it before. Perhaps it was just me feeling that way after having been to a place like Post Town, but I was unsure.

All I knew was that it felt different. Same, yet at the same time, different. A more cold, and reserved Driftveil then I had ever known. One that, in a way, felt oddly foreign.

Walking through the cold, desolate evening roads of Driftveil, I only found myself accompanied with my own solitude. Eventually, after much contemplation brought about by the silence and much walking through the streets, I finally arrived back home in front of my house. Instantly walking up and opening the door, I shut it behind me before finding myself falling asleep on my bed not long after arriving. Before I did though, I made one promise to myself, one promise I knew I would keep, no matter what.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will come find you.

It was with that, that I fell into a deep, deep rest.

_Spark’s POV_

I had been dragging the bag back to the house for what had felt like hours, with only the solitude of the beginning of dawn being the only thing to greet me. My back ached of fatigue, screaming at me to stop and rest, but I kept on going, not wanting to wake up in the middle of nowhere twice in a row. Eventually, after I started to believe I would never arrive, the house started to come into view from a distance. Both Emolga and Dunsparce were standing right outside of it, presumably looking for me and wherever I had gone. Thankfully, for both myself and the fact that I felt like I was about to collapse, they noticed me and my state and came quickly rushing over.

“Holy… what in the world happened?” Emloga said, rushing over. “Spark, are you alright?”

“I’m… I’m…” I found myself panting heavily, before saying, “I-I’m fine, just… can you just… just please help me get all the way over to the house.”

Without question, she started to support me as I continued to carry the bag the rest of the way, with Dunsparce eventually helping as well when he got over. Feeling like I was on the verge of collapsing the entire way, I eventually made it to out front, dropping it to the side and taking a second to sit down.

But, only for a second, for it was also then that I noticed the very tip of the sun start to peak over the hills. If I was going to figure out what this was about, I needed to do It now. Breathing heavily, and much to both Emolga’s and Dunsparce’s surprise, I managed to get myself up again and started ransacking through the bag. Most of it looked like average supplies, stuff akin to berries, a reviver seed or two, stuff of that nature.

But then, I felt something. Something that felt way too soft to the touch to be real. Something that caused me to pull the thing out and see…

“R-Riley?” I said, staring at the object I had pulled out, “What in… what in the world is this?”

In my hand, I held an image. An image of a creature with tan skin. A image with one word I had only seen once before, when Riley showed me it.

A word that simply read “Riley.”

Me, along with Emolga and Dunsparce, found ourselves unable to move.

_?’s POV_

I had been looking at the scene unfold from a far away distance, seeing their reaction to the image and all of that. I was slightly saddened by the fact that I had lost a perfectly good bag last night, but that was not the main thing I was mad at, with that award going to the fact that I had lost the picture of him. I sighed.

Of course, I could not just go up to them and ask nicely, especially not after last night. But I would think of something. I started to walk away from the viewing point of the house from the hill, as to not get caught. But this was not over. Not by a long shot.

This was only the beginning.


	3. Struggle

_Spark’s POV_

Emolga and I were still staring at the image wearing shocked expression as the morning sun made its present clear in the sky. We were both silent for a long time, with only the buzzing of Kricketot in the distance to fill the silence. The image lingered in my hand, getting moved by the wind but not losing attention at whatever he was staring at. His face felt so familiar, yet entirely different at the same time; his expression foreign and from another world. One, that was peering out from that one, into this one.

The mere fact that she had this thing in her possession scared me.

I would had continued to stare at it, in both abject fascination and fear, had Dunsparce not broken the silence and said, “So, guys… are we gonna tell everyone else in paradise about this?”

Hearing his words, and being brought back into the scene taking place in front of the house, I said, “Let’s just do it later. I’ll hold on to the photo, since…”

My silence managed to tell a story on its own as I tucked the image away. They both gave up, remembering how I had been last night.

Shuffling through my bag for a moment, wondering what to say, I eventually continued. “So, why did you come here anyways? It isn’t that common for you to come to me in the morning, of all times.”

“Well, you aren’t wrong,” she said, before sighing, “fine, I’ll come out with it. Look, we were just concerned you had gotten into more of a mess than you were last night, to put it crudely. And, considering the state we ran into you being this morning… look, Spark, are you okay?”

Looking downward, wondering how to respond, I eventually said, “Hang on a moment, I need to go grab something from inside.”

Walking back into the house, in an attempt to avoid Emolga’s constant barrage of questions, I sat down on one of the stumps. Looking out the window that shined light throughout the entire room, I could not stop myself from thinking. I still wondered how I had let myself break down as much as I did in front of everyone back there, when they were all happy and cheering for Riley. It was selfish, and disgusting, if I was going to be particularly honest.

And the weird part about it all? Why we had not forgotten about Riley yet. I was not going to stick around, and just wonder why like Emolga wanted me to. I had to figure out what happened, with both Riley and that Snivy.

Finding a new bit of motivation within me, I got up and went to look for my bag. I swore I had laid it somewhere around here, but no matter how hard I looked it evaded me. Under the table, the stump-chairs, everything and everywhere inside the house. All the meanwhile, one bag laid against its side on the wall of the house.

Riley’s bag. The one he had left behind after his time here came to its conclusion. Something he would hate to see go to waste, knowing him. I knew I had to use Riley’s bag for the time being, despite all the memories it held with it, and my general anxiousness towards possibly losing it. Walking towards the wall it rested on, I grabbed its handle and pulled it across my shoulder. When it came fully into contact with my skin, its surface starting to grind against it. It felt odd, gritty, even. The result of something being scrapped against the skin of a dragon for months. Looking at it with a slight tick in my eye, a bright red insignia stitched on long ago came into my view. The dirtied, long since sown on red insignia Leavanny had made as thanks for saving her son from Inflora forest continually taunted me as I adjusted it. Breathing in and out, trying to repressing feelings that wanted to unleash themselves in the form of kicking over one of the stumps, I walked back out of the house. I was greeted by both Emolga and Dunsparce, talking and acting like nothing had changed. That was, until they noticed the bag I was carrying.

Emolga, after looking back and forth at the bag and I, said, “Uh… Spark, not to be rude, but… what are you doing? Look, I-I know you’re the leader of the guild, but… I’d be more than happy to fill in for you in your absence.”

Plastering on a familiar smile to my face, I interrupted her. “Look, Emolga, I’ll be fine. We really need to figure out what happened last night, and well… I can’t really just stay put and hope for the best, if you get what I mean?”

Hearing a slight stutter in my own voice, I held back a bit of anger that tried to get out. Trying to push it aside, afraid of any of it leaking out, I waited for a response. Her eye twitched, with a tick, until she finally gave in.

“Okay, fine then. I… really would appreciate you not taking this situation as drastic as you have been, nor your believing you need to push yourself constantly like, but… whatever then. Let’s head down to the town for some supplies and start tracking down this enigma, I guess.”

Collectively agreeing on our next course of action, we started walking. The path weaned slowly from cleared dirt to more compacted ground, pounded down over time by the footsteps of many pokémon traveling from Paradise to Post Town. As we walked along the path, with the mountains slowly rising into view from the side, fatigue balled up inside me. Fatigue I had to hide from both of them. Trying to come off as just a bit sleep-deprived, I looked at the far away mountain; the same one we had climbed what had to be less than a day ago. It towered over all, an imposing reminder in the distance.

A reminder, of something that I should had long forgotten about by now.

Getting snapped out of my train of thoughts upon hearing her voice, Emolga said,“So… since we are frankly in the middle of nowhere right now, care to explain that long story of yours?”

Stopping mid-step, I quickly found myself back there, chasing after that grass type with her laugh in the rain. I still remember the grimy dirt that mocked me when I fell down, a spit in the face. Forgetting what Emolga asked me, I imagined myself back there, running down this very same road.

Emolga folded her hands, sighing. “Uh… hey Spark, you there? You’ve been acting weird this entire time, but... this is entirely unlike you. Is something the matter?”

Getting snapped out of my thoughts, I quickly answered her. “Sorry, I was just… brought back to thinking about what happened yesterday, that’s all,” I said, slightly gritting my teeth at the falsified truth. “But, you do have a point. You guys deserve an explanation, so let me explain what happened.”

Giving off a low, almost inaudible sigh, I started explaining the fun experience that was last night to them. “It all started when I woke up from my rest after a lightning bolt hit nearby, waking me up with the clamoring sound of thunder.” Half contemplating mentioning the dream prior, I dropped the notion. “When I finally got myself up off the ground, I noticed I was not alone in the room. Turning around, expecting to see one of you guys from Paradise, I instead saw a Snivy. After awkwardly finding ourselves staring at each other for a while, eventually the topic of Riley was… wait.”

I stopped speaking for a moment, much to both Dunsparce and Emolga’s confusion. “hang on a moment, this question has be bumbling along in my mind for a while, but I never thought to ask it. Why… why can we still remember Riley? And, is…”

Emolga and Dunsparce looked at me, their faces spelling dismay as I quickly put down my bag and started ransacking through it. It was a disordered mess as usual, but eventually I found the thing I was looking for laying in one of the side compartments, nearly entirely pristine.

Pulling it out, I showed it to them again. “Is there any possible chance this is the cause of that, and not Hydreigon just randomly going back on his promise?”

The question stood in the air, waiting for a respondent to answer it. A respondent, that would turn out to be Herdier, rapidly running over to us.

“W-what is it?” Emolga asked, finding herself slightly on edge after what I said.

Herdier stopped, panting nearly nonstop from constant running. He eventually composed himself, and said, “Spark, thank Arceus you’re here! I need to—”

“Can I ask you one simple question? Just one?” Emolga said, interrupting him and leaving me wondering how scared I made her. Was she really that off-put by all of this?

“Sure, but please, be makin’ it quick. This is really, really urgent,” Herdier said in response, albeit slightly begrudgingly.

Emolga mulled over her words before a moment, before she said, “Okay, fine, I’ll make it quick. Uh… do you recognize the name Riley at all, by any chance?”

“Riley? What kinda name is that? That… I can’t say I’ve ever particularly ‘eard that one.”

There it was, nearly the same thing he said all the way back when Riley first came into town. I still wondered how Riley and I kept the fact that he was human hidden for so long. If I was going to be honest, I still wondered about a lot of things, especially after the whole experience last night.

But my mind especially wondered what was going through Emolga’s mind when she said, whimpering on the ground, “It’s… it’s nothing.”

“Uh… heya, Emolga. You don’t be lookin’ so good, is something the—”

“It’s-it’s nothing… What was so urgent that you came running down here, anyways?” I said, on Emolga’s behalf as she went through an internal crisis. I did not want to have to make her go through talking with anybody right now, nor did I want to illicit anything was more wrong to the resident of Post Town then we already had.

As the conversation came to a dead halt, I started mulling over the implications of all of this. Knowing Herdier, he would not forget about someone as big as Riley that easily, meaning that they all really had forgotten. In a way, I knew I asked for this in a way. But in another way, I could see how being the only one out of three who remembered something could be a bit terrifying.

How had their perception been altered? What was fact or truth to them? Were we alone in remembering him, out here?

Trying not to let any of the grinding concern in my mind leak out, I heard Herdier continue. “Well uh… Spark, I’ll-I’ll just show you the note I found wakin’ up this mornin’. Please, this… this is really important for both me and the little old weasel himself, Lillipup, that you handle this...”

Herdier, being an elder of the village, was not one to usually go asking for help; so when he came running down here, I should had known something was not right. He walked towards me and motioned me to grab a small, already opened envelope sticking out of his bag. Wondering what kind of mess Herdier had that it required him to come running towards the Paradise, I lifted the already torn open flap and started reading the contents aloud, attracting the attention of everyone.

“Hello, this is Snivy,” I read from the letter aloud, scared at the contents as Emolga and Dunsparce look up at me. Taking a moment to recompose myself, I continued reading. “I’m assuming you have been looking for your son, Lillipup.”

Hesitating for a moment, fearful of where this was about to go, I continued reading.“I’ll just cut to the chase, I kidnapped him. I demand that Spark shows up at the end of the forest by the Ragged Mountains with the special item he has taken from me, be there or… Let’s just say the…!”

The next word on the letter screamed out so loud to me once I saw it, to the point where I could not force it out of my mouth. It slowly floated down to the ground as I stumbled backwards, not believing what I had just read.

Eventually, the words came out of my mouth. The words, that made me think this Snivy had a lot less sanity, and was a lot more demented.

“S-slave… slave market,” I said, getting up off the dirty ground and gaining giant looks of concern from both Dunsparce and Emolga. Shaking my head at the turn the day had made, I picked it up and continued reading.

“T-the Lillipup will… will end up on the slave market, down south. Bring Spark down to the forest south of the Ragged Mountains, and his little bag he stole with a certain object of mine, or… or…”

Not being able to bring myself to say the final few words on the blackmail, I folded it back up and put it away in my bag. Both of them were staring at me, their mouths unable to believe what they had just heard. I barely believed it myself, if I was going to be honest.

After a long prolonged silence, Dunsparce said, “This… this is all one big joke, r-right?”

“I… I wish.” I said, wondering just how much of a mess that Snivy was. I knew I should have kept on running after that demented mess of a grass type. I should not had stopped, and let her do something like. Taking a moment to look down at the image, now feeling the slightest tinge of regret, I closed my bag and started walking over to Emolga. She was still slightly shaken from the event moments prior, but I needed to talk to her.

Trying not to disturb her, I asked quietly, “So… do we have enough supplies in the bag to deal with whatever we’ll encounter on the way there?”

“Yeah… yeah, I… I think so. We only we heading up to talk to Hydreigon, and already have supplies I believe, so we should be fine heading down there with what we have…”

I looked at Herdier and said, “If there is one thing I’ll promise you, is that you will have your son back by evening.”

“Now, let’s get going, shall we?”

All three of us started running towards Ragged Mountains to the south, hoping to get there before it was too late.

_Snivy’s POV_

Sounds of footsteps filled the air as we quickly down the path. The trees varied leaves danced as both Tyrunt and Pansear ran alongside me, Pansear’s large, bulky bag slowing him down. Every few moments, I would cautiously give a quick glance behind me, thinking I was going to see a certain little Pikachu I was trying to lead down here with my stolen possessions.

Thankfully, none of my concerned glances had any merit as the only thing that stood behind me was still, silent air. Air, grown stagnant due to a lack of activity, standing around and waiting. Air that would soon remember what action feels like, if that runt tried to ‘be a hero’ as some would put it. I still disliked that we had to do this in the first place. I really did. But what had to be done, had to be done. And besides, the fact that he had taken such a keen interest on me in the first place showed that… well, something was messed up in that little head of his.

Something deeply concerning. Something, I did not have time to dissect.

Moving forward, seeing Pansear still struggling to keep the contents of his bag under control, I said, “Heh, having some trouble there, Pansear?”

He looked back at me. “Well, what do you think? He’s been a fun experience to handle, I can say that much. Was there something in that bag that really merited all of this? Surely we could’ve just—”

“Yes. Because that little thing you carry around with you is just something you found off a forest trail, right?” I said, interrupting him.

He went dead silent, the point hitting right where I wished for it to. His grip on the bag visibly tightened as I saw him look down at the thing I had seen him carry around from the first day I met him. It was an odd little thing, and I had always questioned why he had it. Whatever the reason was though, it was close to home.

I would know, after all.

Eventually, he continued, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “You’re right. Fine, I’ll put my trust in you on this. Don’t make me regret it.”

“I won’t. You can trust me on that.”

Taking a moment to let that conversation cool down, I looked up ahead. Up above, was a bridge. A empty, desolate bridge, that signified we got here on time.

Perfect. Now, we could do what we planned.

Motioning everyone forward, we all pushed ahead. The bridge looked oddly new, compared to all the tarnished pathways and signs preceding it, and for a moment, I felt slight regret for what I was about to do.

Just a tiny bit, though. Just the smallest bit imaginable.

As well all finally reached the other end, a small smile formed on my face. Now, it was time for the main performance.

“Tyrunt, could you please use earthquake on the surrounding area, like we planned? We wouldn’t want them coming at full strength, would we?”

He, with a moment’s regret, obliged. The earth shaked, along with the mountain as rocks came down on the path and bridge in front of us. For a moment, I worried the structure would managed to hold as it buckled but never fully broke.

A worry that soon came undone when a large boulder came down, unsettled by the earthquake. It crashed down and broke the bridge into twain; it making both parts of it fall into the abyss underneath.

Gone. Forever, in a place no one would ever look for it. No one who valued their life, anyways.

With a slight nod, we all agreed they were not coming over after something akin to that. Not wanting to be around when they arrived, we hurried on ahead.

_Spark’s POV_

As we ran forward, hoping to catch that Snivy off-guard before she reached where she had told me to meet her with the bag. Still hauling the thing, but knowing what she really wanted at the end of the day, I tried to push forward as fast as possible.

Something, that became impossible once the ground started shaking. Something, that prompted me to scream “Cover!” as the area in front of us became a mess of falling rocks from the cliff-faces. Earthquakes were known for being a rarity around he from village legend, but… but when they did come. They were known for doing heavy damage to this path, sometimes even blocking it off for months at a time on the worse cases. Something, I did not want nor need right now.

Nor was it something that poor Lillipup needed right now. Why did I let this happen…

Trying to get away from the main source of falling rocks I stayed a decent distance away from the walls. Eventually, the earthquake would finally wind down as we all came out of our hiding spots. It had been a weak one, admittedly, but there was still some damage had. Reconvening on the path, we walked forward before seeing how today had went sour.

It was the bridge. The same bridge that both Riley and I had first come here using. All that remained were the two pillars on each side, both of which originally acting as grounders to keep it within place.

The earthquake had taken it out, leaving me without a method of moving forward. Both Emolga and Dunsparce could head on over, through both the ground and the air, but I was stuck on this side of the bridge. We all turned around and looked at each other, wondering what to do in a situation such as this.

“Great. Just great,” she said, angering brimming in her face. “Of course the bridge had to break down right here, right as we were approaching where that poor Lillipup had been brought.”

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked, putting on that fake voice everyone took so truthfully. She looked at me for a moment as if she was about ready to say something, before dropping it. Usually, she was not like this at all, being the positive one in our group. I had not seen this side of her since the Pawniard brother’s attack on Dunsparce now several months back, and it was honestly starting to concern me.

“Whatever then. Let’s find another way, I guess. Spark, do you have any ideas as to how we can get you over this ridge?”

I tried to think of something, anything that could possibly work, but all my mind drew was a blank. Getting slightly mad at myself, I picked up a rock and threw it at the water. Of course this earthquake had to happen right as—

Wait. Why did the rock not bounce off of anything?

Deciding to investigate this further, I dropped my bag and started walking towards the edge of the waterfall. Picking up another rock, throwing it up and down in the air a few times to get a good grip on it, I threw it in to make sure the last one was not a fluke. It was not. The waterfall hid a cave behind it, a cave that might lead us to the other side of this ridge.

Turning around, I raised my voice and said, “Hey guys! I found a possible way through! There’s a cave through the waterfall!”

Both Dunsparce and Emolga broke away from the little conversation they were having, and walked over to where I was. She said, “Spark… are you sure? That seems a bit risky, with the river flowing out and all…”

“Here, let me show you.” Deciding actions spoke better than words, I picked up another rock and threw it in. Her eyes widened as it became clear that I was not speaking out of fatigue.

“Well I…” she started, before hesitating as if to quickly arrange her words. “Look, I’m sorry, to put it bluntly. It’s been a long day, and I shouldn’t have doubted you. It’s just… we’re all on edge after both yesterday and what has happened today, and I didn’t want to take any risks.”

Holding back any reaction to the validity of Emolga’s concerns, I said, “Look, it’s… it’s fine. Tragedy tends to do that to pokémon, you know? Besides, we all are on edge right now, and for a good reason. Let’s just get a move on, okay?”

Having heard my words, she walked off. We all needed a second to get ready to take the dive into the place behind the waterfall. Taking a moment to make sure Emolga had walked off far enough away so she could not see me, I shook my head in slight anger. This felt so hard to pull off, without Riley here by my side. But, I knew I had to persevere, otherwise…

I was not going to think about that. All I had to do was persevere through this, and everything would be fine.

We all went into the cavern one by one, following Dunsparce getting our bags in their through bringing them in through the ground. I had to hold back any emotions that wished to let themselves out as we all walked forward; the area around us actively shifted into a maze of tunnels and labyrinths, much to my and everyone’s chagrin. I would have to keep walking, when I wanted to sit down and rest for a second, because that was life.

Trying to keep myself together, and noticing everyone’s aspirated expressions, we walked.

All I could hope was that I would still be able to hold myself together by the end of it.

_Snivy’s POV_

Quickly glancing behind myself again in paranoia of them having actually gotten over, I found nothing. Sighing under my breath, thankful I had not seen them, I faced forward again. In front of me, the rendezvous point Pansear had set in the note he ghost wrote for me laid.

I was illiterate, at least in runes, so he obliged to write it in my place. Not happily, of course, but he still obliged to my request.

As we continued walking, I eventually said, “Okay, I think we have arrived. I did not seeing them tailing us or anything of that sort, so they probably got redirected into that cave we found earlier.”

Tyrunt, putting down the bags of supplies he had been carrying, said, “Good. Nice to know that one of your plans actually had at least some success, after that… whole fun thing with the village down south.”

Ah, that. That whole fun thing, involving the angry villagers. Why, oh why, oh why…

Sighing, trying to not let the repressed memory surface, I started setting up camp. The Lillipup, who was still fighting against the bag, made it clear he was not going to let up anytime soon. As we originally walked from the path to the crossroads, he had woken up and tried viciously to break from Pansear’s grasp. So, in response, we did the only thing we could think of.

We bagged him. Of course, the top was left open slightly as to make sure the poor thing did not suffocate, but besides that, he was basically stuck in a prison cell. To be honest, I felt bad for him, having to be the victim in this attempt of mine to get something that belongs to me back. But, it was how it was.

It was not gonna be a fun next few hours, and that was for absolute sure as I watched and waited for that Pikachu to come out of the woods.

I waited, hoping for this all to be over soon, so I could move on with my search.

_Spark’s POV_

_Ragged Abyss_

As we walked through the dungeon, all that off-set the almost off-putting silence was the occasional cheery line made by Emolga. A cheery line that would, more often than not, get ignored and be left to ring along the desolate halls of this place. The entire dungeon looked like a polar opposite of the Ragged Mountains, with all the walls tinted blues and tans. I had been told stories in the past about how dungeons took from the surrounding landscape to create their interior, and I guessed this was one of those cases with the waterfall.

However, it was managing to prove much more of a challenge than both Emolga and I’s typing advantages, even in spite of our advantages. One example was a Gyarados that had held us up for way too long, giving them more time than I would of liked. Time, in which that Snivy was preparing for my arrival and Lillipup was suffering. Time in which my regrets for attempting to lunge at her and tripping on a log, instead of waiting for a clearer shot, mounted and built upon eachother.

Eventually, we would find our way out as the world of labyrinths and tunnels shifted back into one solitary hall. It lead out into the other waterfall, the one present on the other side of the Ragged Mountains. Dunsparce moved both of our bags over as Emolga and I crossed past the waterfall.

I quickly dashed through the streaming water and found myself falling face first into the dirt. As I stood up, I saw Emolga soaring above me and Dunsparce emerge out of the ground with both of our bags dry, onto land.

“Well, that was something, wasn’t it?” I said as I quickly shook off the water that had accumulated on to me.

Emolga, with a slight chuckle of disbelief towards the short distance crossed, said, “I guess you could say that…” she shook her head. “It’s funny, to think an hour or two ago, we were only over there…”

“Yeah, and that’s why we need to be fast about not giving them any more time then they have been given to prepare.” I said, grabbing my bag off the ground and going through it, making sure everything was in order.

We more than likely would had continued talking, had the screaming not begun. A series of loud barks for help from the woods that caused us to share glances. We immediately started running towards the source after a moment, running off of fear of what had happened to him. After only several minutes of jogging as fast as possible towards the source, trying to haul the bag as fast as possible, we came face to face with the perpetrator.

It was that Snivy, and two other pokémon that were presumably working with her, standing by her side. They almost did not notice my presence, being held up by what looked like them holding a bag; I almost contemplated making a attempt to rush them, until I noticed her turn around from the commotion to face me.

“So, I see the rodent and his two best buds decided to come over and get that Herdier’s son back. I would’ve preferred you not bring others into this, but it is what it is. Hey, Pansear and Tyrunt, the little mouse himself has arrived, and he has friends!”

Both of them turned around, holding a bag with a rapidly moving object inside of it. A object, that soon dawned on me had to be Lillipup. It had to be Lillipup, being forcefully kept in that bag. Oh, how disgusting are these pokémon.

“Oh, you are so disgusting, why I—” Emolga started to say, before I stopped her.

Whispering, I made an active effort to keep her from ruining any chances we had. “Listen, we can’t start burning bridges yet. I… really don’t want to see Herdier having to hear that he will never seen his son again because we couldn’t keep quiet, okay?”

She, albeit hesitantly, dropped her aggressiveness as Snivy’s coterie approached us. Every part of me wanted to wipe that smirk expression on her face, but I knew I could not. Because if I did, I was afraid what these sick, sick pokémon would do to Lillipup.

With a slight smirk on her face, she approached me and said, “Oh, glad to see you decided to show up. Was starting to wonder where you were, or if you were even coming… glad to see you didn’t get distracted.”

Holding back a growl, I asked, “Is that all you have to say to me, petty words? Or are you going to fulfill your end of the bargain, like you promised me you would on that note of yours?”

The smirk weaned off of her face, before she said, “Oh, I would be more then willing to do so, if all my stuff is returned right here and now.”

I almost went to grab the image out of my bag, before I heard Emolga calling me over. “Hey, Spark, can we talk for a second over here, if you will.” 

Diverting my attention away from Snivy, much to her apparent displeasure, I walked over. Once I made it, I put my bag down and asked, “Oh, uh… what is it, Emolga?” 

“It’s something semi-important, but,” she said, while motioning towards the other group converging, “can we talk where they can’t hear us? I... really don’t want to risk anything, considering the circumstances.” 

Seeing no real reason to protest, I followed her wishes. Picking up my bag containing my supplies and more importantly the image, while she carried the other one, we started walking. We made it a fair bit away from the ‘discussion grounds,’ but not far enough to where it looked like suspicious.

“Okay, so... listen, since that whole thing did not work, what are we planning on doing involving getting Lillipup back? We need to think of something, otherwise the poor child is going to…” She shivered in fear, at the very thought of it.

“I... really don’t have an answer to that. But, I would rather give up a piece of memorabilia than a child’s life any day, so I say we—” 

“But here’s my question. What if it’s more than that? What if we forget, like everyone in Post Town?” 

Hearing the possibility come up again brought back that feeling of insecurity. It was the same one I had felt last only a day ago. Trying to hold it back for a moment, I quickly got the image out and stared at it as she continued speaking. 

“Listen, I know we value Lillipup’s life, but... we need to figure out why she had this. For all we know, Riley could be in actual danger right now back at his home, and this is the only lead we have!” 

To be fair, it was odd that she held this image in her possession. Perhaps Emolga had a point here. Whatever reason she had them for surely could not be good.

Giving in to her claims, I said, “Fine, fine. Let’s keep the image, I see what you mean. But, what else are we going to do?”

She put on a small, but conniving smile. “I mean… all she asked for was the bag, didn’t she? Perhaps she might not notice the image’s absence, until we are long gone and ready to deal with her if she returns…”

I uneasily rubbed my hand against my head, feeling a slight anxiety towards all of this. “Alright,” I said, “let’s try it. Sounds like it has a chance to work.”

Picking my bag up again, with the contested image inside of it, I went back to where I was previously. Dunsparce, upon seeing me returning, stepped away from the bag he had protected while Emolga and I talked.

“So, I’m assuming you didn’t just come here to throw petty, meaningless words at me, right? Am I going to get my bag back, or is this going to awry?” she asked as I approached, each one of her words bring my mind back to the topic of the image.

Why did she care about it that much, anyways? What... what was so special about it? 

Thinking my options over for a moment, I went with the most rational choice I could think of. “Yeah, yeah... I have it. Let me go grab that bag you felt the urge to kidnap a kid to get back.” 

The words came out hoarsely, but she either did not notice or did not care enough to notice. I was hoping this was going to go by smoothly and she would not realize the absence of the image. Hopefully, I was going to be able to get away with this and have this whole crisis be averted.  

As the two approached with the bag, grumbling to themselves, I stood still in anticipation. Unfortunately, I only noticed at the last minute I had forgotten to close one of the compartments; the compartment in which the image was once in. She noticed this after taking quick glance at it.

A quick glance, that made me regret every decision I had made up until that point.

“Oh. I see you’ve been perusing through my belongings?” all three of us cringed up as both Pansear and Tyrunt stopped walking. “Funny. I think I asked for the whole bag back, thank you very much.” 

My expression wavered as this situation proved to get worse and worse. Snivy started looking through the bag as both of her allies stared at us grumbling things to themselves. Eventually, she came back up, staring straight at me. 

“Oh. You...” she said, anger boiling out of her voice. “Oh, you little... what, did you find a little shiny and wanted to hold on to it or something! Why I’m going to—”

“Yeah, and why do you care so much? Are you seriously demented enough to care more about an image than a poor child’s life?”

That was the tipping point for her. A simple line, asking why she cared. A simple line, that set her off like there truly was no tomorrow.

Right as I tried to back off, after realizing it was a bad decision to push as far as I had, she launched both of her vines straight at me. They almost managed to get me, but I was able to ward off their advance through purposeful disorientation, launching a ball of electricity to confuse them momentarily.

Surviving the initial barrage, I made it a fair bit away from the chaos and saw both Pansear and Tyrunt come running in to join the fray. Everyone started fighting each other, without any reserve or hesitance. Emolga, for one, had started distracting Snivy from the sky. She constantly dodged barrages of leaves coming towards her as she attempted to attack from the sky. Taking in the madness that the whole situation had devolved into, something dawned on me. 

Tyrunt had that bag in his hand. That bag, which held Lillipup. That’s the only leverage they had. And if they lost that... 

Noticing Dunsparce rushing towards Tyrunt in the ground, I ran towards him in hopes that we could overwhelm him. Unfortunately, one factor had lapsed my mind. 

A factor that punched me in the middle in the gut, before showing himself to be Pansear. He, with a slight smirk, asked me, “Oh, were you going somewhere? Sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t let that happen.” 

Feeling anger building up inside of me, I charged. I was not going to allow some random bandit to cause any more pain for this child, whether he liked it or not. Rushing straight towards him, I jumped up in the air and slashed at him with my tail, hardened with a silvery glow. He took the hit, stumbling and grumbling backwards, but not reacting as badly as I expected.

“Oh, that thing your species is known for having. I’m not sure whether you’re an idiot or what, since fire has a very well-known capacity to handle metal, but I guess I’m going to have to teach you the hard way.”

Before I got a chance to try to keep up the pressure on him, he rushed at me with fist covered in flames. It singed the area around where it hit, leaving me off-balance and giving him an opportune moment to sweep me straight off my feet, leaving my face to crash into the dirt.

The disgusting, grimy dirt. The one that had made a joke of me multiple times at this point.

“You really are a runt, you know that? You couldn’t even take down some measly fire-type, am I right?” he said, while circling around me, posing to attack any movement. “It’s funny, really, how I see pokémon like you claiming to be heroic all the time.”

He hesitated for a moment, before continuing with a slight chuckle. “But, are you really? Or are you just—”

That was the moment in which I saw Lillipup running past, distracting Pansear for the moment I needed him to be. I tackled him from the ground, before he had a moment to react, and started fighting him close up and personal. Slashing him with my tail, I jumped off of him to avoid a flame covered punch to the face. He put up a fair bit of resistance, but his failure was near certain once Dunsparce joined my side. We both continually barraged him from both sides, with strikes from both underground and from up top. I was heavily hit by some of his flames he would send out, leaving me feeling tired and starting to doubt my capacity to fight. But at the end of the day, he was the one that collapsed on the ground, in front of both Dunsparce and I. We both stood still, and looked towards Snivy, who was standing around looking straight at us. Feeling confident that this was finished, I asked her, “So, do you know when to give up, or are we going to have to deal with you, too?”

She stared at me, with what I thought at first was disbelief. Her eyes brought themselves downwards, staring at the ground the ground as I waited for a response.

“Hah… hah… hah…”

Put off by the sudden laughter, I hesitantly walked forwards. “You… you really are mad, right?”

“hahahahaha… oh, you’re so gullible, aren’t you?”

I tried to figure out any reason as to why she was saying this, before I finally saw Tyrunt in the background. Tyrunt, carrying a bag with a moving thing inside of it.

My focus slipped from Snivy for just one second as I screamed, “Emolga! No—”

Suddenly, a giant, ringing pain came over my right side as I stumbled backwards. Dunsparce started running off as I saw Pansear approach me. I tried to dodge his next punch, but fatigue from both earlier today and from the fight caused me to stumble. I fell to the ground, seeing the double images of faces looking down at me from above.

This… was all one giant mistake. One, giant, fatal error.

She looked down at me, her with a sort of pity. One that would be given to an inferior. With a slight chuckle, she said, “Hahahaha… you know, it’s funny. There’s a little saying I like to follow, that I figure I might as well share with you. Sometimes, battles don’t come up to who has more power. Sometimes, they come up to who can deceive the other best.”

“Heroes don’t win battles. Deceit wins battles. Now rest tight, little runt.”

And with that, along with jarring pain on my face, everything started fade away. I could barely hear anything, but the last few words they said while they ran off as I lost consciousness.

“Hey Snivy, we need to be quick! I see a group approaching from the distance! Where… where are we going?”

“We’re are going down to… to…”

Eventually, I completely lost consciousness as I heard both the sounds of running, and of regret.

…

…

…

As I slowly opened my eyes again, all I could see was darkness. Everything was black as far as I could see around me. It was exactly like that one dream, yet without anybody within view able distance. Slowly getting up, I looked around for somebody, or anybody in the general vicinity. I walked around for what felt like a while, but with no results.

“Hahahaha…” she chuckled, with both of her large orange-red eyes staring straight at me.

Feeling a intense rage come back over me, I started trying to chase her. She ran, just faster than however fast I could go. This day felt like it would never end as she kept going and going, faster and faster and faster.

“Come after me, little Spark. You hate me, don’t you? You despise me…” she said, running faster than I ever possibly could keep up with. “Come and take me down, like you so desire to…”

Seething with rage, I continued to give chase. The landscape turned from pure blackness to the path, and the weather, the constant roar of lightning. She irritatingly chuckled near constantly, demeaning me and everything I had been through.

“Stop! You monster! Stop running already!”

I did not care how irrational this was. I did not care that she was not real. I wanted revenge. Because I hated her.

She turned around and smirked at me. “Okay, whatever you say.”

Suddenly, she stopped as everything melted back into the backdrop of a dark abyss. She stared at me, with both of her bulbous eyes, making me hesitate for a moment. Only for a moment though as I lunged with her without any haste nor hesitation.

I was not going to make the same mistake I made then, letting her get away. Not now.

Angry towards her, and everything about her, I said, “Okay, now you’re going to—”

“Wait…” I said, now seeing nothing where she once was, but more black, “where did you…?”

“hah… hah… hah…”

The laughing again. The demented, demeaning laughing. The one that seemed to follow me wherever I went.

She chuckled, from what sounded like everywhere yet nowhere. “You really are gullible. You thought that I was really here?”

“Come… come out here!” I said, “Stop hiding and fight me!”

“Oh, you’re so, so gullible. It’s hilarious. hahahahaha…”

“Stop! No, stop!” I said, while futilely trying to cover my ears.

“Hahahaha, it’s so, so funny… how you try to resist.”

“Stop! Make it stop!” I said, screaming, while buckling over to the ground and trying everything to make the laughing go away.

“Hahahahahahahahaha! It’s so funny!”

W-why…

Why does it never end…

Please… stop, stop!

Please, make the pain go away! Please!

W-why does everything go wrong…

Why… why…

why…

…

…

…

_Riley’s POV_

When I woke up from rest, I expected to see sunlight. Instead, I woke up to both darkness and loud, almost racketing noises outside. Instinctually, I held on tighter to my pillow to try to block out noise.

“Oh, for Arceus’ sake, it can’t be morning yet, can it?” I said, mumbling words out as I gave in and got up. Taking a moment to sigh at the great start to the day, I looked around at the rest of my room, still unused to being back here.

Wondering what could possibly be so bad I walked up to my window. Barely seeing anything other then the faint orange outline of something in the distance, I pulled up the window, to find…

A skyscraper. Covered in orange and red flames, dancing around it and eating it whole.


End file.
